HT fork setup checklist

[marksverdhei]

HT Fork Setup Checklist

Reusable checklist for initializing any new HT fork. Run through this after forking an upstream repo.

Prerequisites

• Fork created under heiervang-technologies with ht- prefix (e.g. ht-vllm-omni)
• Upstream remote added: git remote add upstream <upstream-url>

Branch setup

• main branch is a clean fast-forward mirror of upstream — never commit directly
• Create ht branch from main: git checkout -b ht main
• Set ht as the default branch in GitHub repo settings
• Push ht to origin: git push -u origin ht

First commit on ht (docs — single commit)

All of the following changes go into one commit with message docs: add ht-fork documentation and discussion links:

• README.md — Prefix title with ht- (e.g. ht-ACE-Step 1.5)
• README.md — Add HT fork subtitle: "Heiervang Technologies fork of Upstream"
• README.md — Add link bar with:
  • HT Discussions
  • Fork Management Guide
  • Upstream project link
• README.md — Add ## HT Fork Changes section with:
  • Description of what this fork is
  • Table of changes vs upstream (columns: Change, Description, Contributed back?)
  • Branch strategy explanation (main = upstream mirror, ht = HT changes)
  • Link to HT Discussions for questions/inquiries
  • Link to Fork Management Guide
• CONTRIBUTING.md — Add ## HT Fork Management section on top of existing content, with:
  • Link to Fork Management Guide
  • Branch conventions (main, ht, feature branches from ht)
  • Sync workflow (fast-forward main, rebase ht, force-push)
  • Commit standards (conventional commits, linear history)
  • Link to HT Discussions for all inquiries
• If no CONTRIBUTING.md exists, create one with the HT section + a brief note to follow upstream contribution guidelines for non-fork-specific changes

Post-setup

• Verify ht branch has clean linear history on top of main
• Force-push ht if history was rewritten: git push --force-with-lease origin ht
• Confirm default branch is ht in GitHub settings

Ongoing maintenance

• Keep main synced with upstream via fast-forward
• Rebase ht onto main after sync — notify teammates before force-push
• Update the HT Fork Changes table in README when adding/removing HT-specific changes
• Feature branches: create from ht, squash-merge back via PR

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See the Fork Management Guide for full details on branch conventions, sync workflow, and contribution process.

For questions or discussion about any HT fork, use the HT Discussions page.